China’s electricity output in the first four months of the year rose 12.6 percent year on year to 730 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), said Wang Yonggan, secretary general of China Electricity Council.

During the same period, electricity consumption rose 13.46 percent year on year to 743.2 billion kWh, he said.Wang said he expected China’s total electricity consumption this year to increase 13.5 percent year on year to 2,456 billion kWh.

He said the country was expected to add 70 million kilowatts of newly installed generation capacity this year, of which 30 million kilowatts would be added during the first half.China has been expanding its power generation capacity at an annual rate of 15 percent over the past three years, in a bid to meet growing demand for power to fuel its fast-growing economy.

Due to expected improvements in water levels from increased rainfall this year, hydropower output was expected to increase, which would help ease the country’s power shortage.In the fourth quarter, the gap between electricity supply and demand would shrink to 7.5 million kilowatts, he said.

［辅助阅读］：中国电力企业联合会秘书长王永干日前在中国能源战略高层论坛上说，预计2005年全国电力供需形势依然紧张，但较2004年有所缓解。在一些地区，一些时段仍然会出现非常严峻的缺电局面，目前在江苏、浙江、广东、包括山西等地用电均非常紧张。
2004年全国共有24个省级电网出现拉闸限电，全国电力缺口在4000万千瓦。今年1至4月份，全国发电量7300亿千瓦时，比去年同比增长了12.6%。全社会用电量7432亿千瓦时，比去年增长13.5%。